Loss resilient strategy in body sensor networks

Abstract

Body sensor networks have gained continuous popularity in applications such as monitoring, sports training, and interactive gaming. However, data communication reliability is critical for the success of various applications such as ECG/EKG data analysis. In this paper, we propose a loss resilient strategy where prioritized scheduling and packet concatenation schemes are integrated for high network capacity and acceptable data reliability. The scheme is implemented at the application layer and therefore is compatible with existing standards such as IEEE 802.15.4. Performance evaluation on a real sensor test bed shows that the concatenation scheme significantly improve the performance and the prioritized scheduling ensures good reliability of high importance sensors.